Slowness is a drone-pop trio from San Francisco that formed in 2008 in a big living room just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The group enlisted Monte Vallier at Ruminator Audio as producer for their debut EP, "Hopeless but Otherwise" and toured the U.S. during the summer, 2010. The band is currently recording a follow-up EP, on which Sean Eden, formerly of Luna, will add guitars. Slowness is booking a European tour for June, 2011 to support the soon-to-be released "For Those Who Wish to See the Glass Half-Full"(dal loro Myspace)
Eccentric lo-fi rocker Ariel Pink threw an onstage fit during his set at Coachella on Friday (April 15), complaining about the sound, smoking cigarettes with his back to the crowd and eventually storming off the stage.Known for having an unpredictable live show, the Los Angeles frontman for Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti seemed particularly haunted during his performance at the Gobi tent in the scorching Friday afternoon heat. After a heated interaction with the soundman, apparently due to microphone issues, Pink appeared hell bent on ruining his own show, causing feedback with his microphone, dancing to his band's music but refusing to sing.When the majority of the crowd refused to leave, transfixed by his antics, the temperamental singer grew even further enraged, and stormed off the stage, offering a halfway apology to his dismayed fans, "I'm sorry," he said. "I know you hate me now."Though his band attempted to salvage the set by returning Pink to the stage, he remained upset, pouting with his back to the crowd and picking his thumb nervously, though he finally gave in and sang a bit on the final songs 'L'estat (According to the Widow's Maid)' and his 2010 gem 'Round and Round.'Though most fans appeared perplexed and shocked by his meltdown, some found the tantrum amusing, considering it a form of musical entertainment from a misunderstood genius. [#]
Water Borders is another San Francisco outfit hell-bent on giving you the chills through goth-inspired sounds and an all-around depraved aesthetic. [...] First, one half of Water Borders exhales smoke with a menacing snarl as his counterpart walks across the background on loop. Next, the hooded gentlemen traipse about the beach--one fellow moving in slow motion while the other repeats a brief path on loop. Then, there's a big burlap sack -- kind of like the one in Takashi Miike's Audition that scared the living shit out of me -- with something in it. And that something moves! You'll have to watch the "Akko" video yourself to see what happens next...[#]
Before the Toronto artist John O'Regan became the one-man electro-pop spectacle Diamond Rings, he was a member of a rock band called the D'Urbervilles. In fact, he never stopped being part of that group, though they have changed their name and style. Now known as Matters, the band have updated the post-punk style of the D'Urbervilles with the keyboards and romanticism of O'Regan's Diamond Rings material. Get In or Get Out, the band's first single as Matters, emphasizes rhythm and texture as well as O'Regan's handsome baritone, resulting in a track that lies halfway between the sound of Radiohead and the National. The single will be released by O'Regan's Hype Lighter label on April 5th. [#]
